Attempted RAM Upgrade - CPU Usage spikes to 100% - Now Sluggish

Thanks TVeblen. I will try that procedure. First, an update.

I pulled the trigger last night and did a factory re-install of Windows 7 onto my SSD. While the computer is faster, the problem persists!

1. I STILL see the iastora.sys BSOD on boot, even after factory install. This morning I was welcomed to a 3 loop BSOD. 2 BSOD and restarts, and then the desktop finally loads. This points to some kind of hardware problem, doesn't it?

2. Performance is STILL very obviously degraded. Chrome struggles. My SSD's benchmarks are a shadow of what they were before. The CPU still spikes and sits at 100%.

3. More info: Before all these problems began, I'd been using an application called RAMMAP, which allows you to clear the Standby Memory, Working Sets, etc. Could this be involved? I was using RAMMAP because Premiere would quickly "consume" AND NOT "RELEASE" my 8 GB of RAM, so it became increasingly necessary to quit and restart the program, to "release" the working ram. Otherwise Premiere (and sometimes Windows) would need more RAM and suddenly crash, with the threat of losing the work I was doing. Hence my desire to double my onboard RAM from 8 to 16 GB in the midst of the project. Could the earlier use of RAMMAP be involved somehow?

4. Previous to all these troubles, I'd tried to install ANOTHER 8GB RAM upgrade - but had the wrong RAM. I mistakenly got Unbuffered RAM, and my system uses ECC / Registered. The computer wouldn't start, or even load the BIOS. It simply sat there. So I uninstalled the Unbuffered Ram, and rebooted. The computer was working fine after this procedure (which is why I didn't think to mention it). The specs were otherwise identical to the Crucial sticks I list below.

5. Then, for the second and catatastrophic attempted memory upgrade: The sticks I bought were 1.2v. Which matched the specs of the factory RAM. Here is the RAM I was recommended by a Dell Tech. (Note the egregious price, which is why I didn't get it):
Dell 4 GB Certified Replacement Memory Module : Memory | Dell

And here is the Crucial RAM I bought:
Crucial 4GB Single DDR4 2133 MT/s (PC4-2133) CL15 SR x8 ECC Registered DIMM 288-Pin Server Memory CT4G4RFS8213 at Amazon.com

Any reason that didn't work?

I'm still trying to get my computer to an acceptable working state. This was supposed to be a beast of a computer, but it's totally hobbled.

Regarding Clearing the CMOS: I looked in my manual, and could find no mention of those jumpers. The only instructions listed simply say to remove the coin cell and re-seat it. Will this clear the CMOS sufficiently?

Another thing I've observed:

My USB3 transfer times, as well as transfers between internal drives, has slowed tremendously too. Could this also point to CMOS corruption?

Ok. Possibly very good news.

I uninstalled the 3v battery, held power button to drain, then reinstalled it.

On reboot, the computer didn't enter BIOS. Warning lights. Uh oh. A pattern of 2 then 7 blinks, from the manual meaning there was a "memory power issue." Manual instructs to uninstall the RAM chips and then re-seat them, and reboot.

So I do that. Computer powers up, and says system clock needs to be reset. So I enter BIOS, reset system clock, check settings there to match what was working before.

Windows 7 boots up... no BSOD... and now seems to be running super fast and clean now. I need to do more thorough testing, and launch chrome etc, but so far the lagginess seems to be gone. It feels new again.

TV - if this all works out, I will happily proclaim that you are a genius.

In response to your questions, by "Factory Install" I mean a reinstallation of the OS from a bootable USB key I had Dell Backup and Recovery Utility make for me back when the computer was new. It was the best way to clone the OS drive and its several weirdo Dell partitions, and then install all that on my SSD.

Memory leak sounds exactly right. Premiere gobbles RAM when you're doing intensive stuff (shuttling around, cutting high res)... but then it never releases the RAM when you're letting the program "rest." The only way to "regenerate" your RAM is to quit and restart the program. Super annoying.

So now - does it make any sense to attempt to install the two Crucial RAM modules? Or would that be simply insane? Should I just bite the bullet and use the factory 8GB, or do I really have to buy the RAM directly from DELL? The good news is, my workstation is in a "low risk" posture now - it has a clean OS on it, no programs, and I'm using my older workstation for the moment to finish the Premiere work.

Cool.

More good news - I just re-ran my SSD's benchmark (Samsung Disk Magician), and the results are fully 20x faster across the board than they were with all the problems. The SSD benchmarks like new again. Awesome. So clearly, it worked.

If only I'd tried the CMOS before re-installing the entire OS! Clueless Dell tech.

I think what I will do is to just live with the 8GB for now. It was working, albeit annoyingly. I'll probably return the RAM and reevaluate when I'm not mid-stream in a project.

That said: Is it possible that my system was "destabilized" due to the original attempted install of the UNBUFFERED RAM?

Or, maybe I mistakenly tried to install these correct RAM sticks while the computer was plugged in (but powered off) - actually I think I may have done just that. Would that wreak this kind of havoc?

I guess I'm trying to avoid the Memtest route - it sounds very time consuming. Since the RAM I have now is correct specs wise (that we can tell - they even say "SERVER" on them) - the only possibility is that they were installed improperly like above - or that they're simply bad RAM sticks, right? How likely is it they're bad?

My computer is back in business, everything running beautifully.

So here it is: TV, you are, in fact, a genius.

So - I checked out Memtest, and the latest version AFAIK was released 9/27/13. I see no mention of DDR4; it very likely isn't supported. So I don't think that would work regardless.

Is there any other way I can check these new sticks before Windows gets its hands on them? It would be great to run with 16 instead of 8.

And, TV, in your wisdom, do you think these Crucial sticks are bad? Or user error during installation (I'm pretty sure I did this part wrong)? Or a mismatch with the factory sticks?

If it's a mismatch... I'll be forced to buy from Dell, won't I. I've never had problems in the past adding 3rd party RAM to my Dell Workstations. (Which have always been super reliable rigs btw up until this current SNAFU. My previous one is a Precision 390, eight years old and still running great).